[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 26 (Thursday, March 10, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         MOWA BAND OF CHOCTAW INDI- ANS FEDERAL RECOGNITION ACT

  Mr. FORD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 318, S. 282, a 
bill to provide Federal recognition of the Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians 
of Alabama.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. COCHRAN. I do object to the unanimous-consent request, Madam 
President. As I understand the request, this is asking unanimous 
consent that a bill be passed granting legislative recognition to the 
Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama.
  Mr. FORD. That is correct.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. FORD. Did the Senator object?
  Mr. COCHRAN. I do not object--Madam President, my objection goes to 
the passage of the bill, not to the calling up of the bill. I have 
expressed my opposition to the bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Thank you.
  Mr. FORD. As I understood it, Madam President, the Senator reserved 
the right to object to my unanimous consent, stated his purpose, and it 
is now up to the Chair to put the unanimous-consent agreement.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the request?
  Mr. COCHRAN. I object to the passage of the bill by unanimous 
consent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the Senate will proceed to 
the bill.
  The clerk will report.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 282), to provide Federal recognition of the Mowa 
     Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabma.

  The Senate proceeded to consider the bill.


 Opposition to S. 282, The Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians Recognition Act

  Mr. COCHRAN. Madam President, I want to express my opposition because 
of the inconsistency and unfairness that this kind of action leads to 
for groups petitioning for recognition by the Federal Government as a 
legally established entity under current law, entitled to the same kind 
of benefits, health care services, education, and housing benefits that 
native American tribes are entitled to under the laws of the United 
States.
  This petitioning group has filed an application of longstanding with 
the Department of the Interior, which has the responsibility for 
administering this recognition program. There are established criteria 
by statute which must be met in order for petitioners to be certified 
as eligible for Federal recognition. This group has not met the test of 
those established criteria.
  The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is led by Chief Phillip 
Martin, who testified before our Select Committee on Indian Affairs, 
very persuasively and eloquently as to why recognition should not be 
granted by Congress as requested by this bill.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Madam President, I oppose S. 282, which would grant 
Federal recognition to the Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama.
  The matter of granting legislative recognition to nonrecognized 
groups of Indian people is clearly a controversial issue. In my opinion 
all who seek Federal recognition should go through the acknowledgment 
process administered by the Department of the Interior and meet the 
established criteria. Legislative recognition creates a dual system, 
one in which the Congress applies no criteria, and the other where the 
Interior Department applies a set of statutory, established criteria. 
Congress should not grant Federal recognition because it leads to 
inconsistency and unfairness for petitioning groups.
  As a member of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, I have 
observed funding for Indian programs lags far behind equivalent Federal 
programs. Native Americans generally suffer the worst conditions of 
unemployment, the lowest life expectancy, and least adequate education 
of all national groups.
  Our government has a responsibility to native Americans based on 
treaties, statutes, and Federal court rulings. Federal acknowledgment 
establishes a perpetual government-to-government relationship between 
the tribe and United States, which has major political, social, and 
economic implications for the petitioning tribe and Federal, State, and 
local governments.
  Congress has created special programs for federally recognized 
tribes, including housing, educational assistance, social services, and 
medical benefits. To qualify for the protection, benefits, and services 
available to federally recognized tribes, a group must satisfy the 
requirements for recognition established by the Department of Interior. 
These qualifications are as follows: First, the Indian group is 
identifiable by historical evidence, written or oral, as being an 
American Indian tribe;
  Second, its members must have existed as a distinct Indian community 
throughout history until the present;
  Third, the Indian group must have maintained political influence over 
its members as an autonomous entity throughout history until the 
present;
  Fourth, the membership of the group is composed principally of 
persons who are not members of any other Indian tribe; and
  Fifth, the tribe has not been the subject of congressional 
legislation expressly terminating their relationship with the Federal 
Government.
  While the 3,000 members of the Mowa group deserve every benefit and 
protection afforded by our constitutional system, I do not support S. 
282 because it would entitle the Mowa to all federally funded services 
by circumventing the established administrative recognition process--a 
process developed in 1978 with the support of Indian tribal 
governments, Congress, and the administration to ensure objective and 
uniform evaluation.
  According to a 1992 statement by the Congressional Budget Office, the 
cost of S. 282 to the American taxpayers is estimated at $10 million a 
year. This expenditure would have a profound effect on federally 
recognized tribes which have met the established requirements I 
previously listed.
  I believe it is a bad precedent to depart from the existing 
requirements of law in controversial recognition cases. It creates an 
exception based on evidence that is in sharp dispute regarding the 
legitimacy of petitions. I hope the Senate will exercise restraint in 
the future when considering exceptions to the rule.
  I am, however, not opposed to the Mowa tribe seeking Federal 
recognition. I merely believe that the tribe should follow the same 
recognition process as other groups petitioning the Federal Government. 
The Federal acknowledgment process does not seek to determine if an 
individual is or is not Indian, it merely establishes the authenticity 
of a sovereign legal entity.
  Senator McCain and I recently introduced S. 1844, the Indian Federal 
Recognition Administrative Procedures Act of 1994, to improve and 
strengthen the administrative recognition process. If the current 
administrative process needs reform, then we as Members of Congress 
should place a stronger emphasis on comprehensively correcting the 
process, not circumventing the current system.
  I ask unanimous consent that a letter from Mr. Phillip Martin, chief 
of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, to the chairman of the 
Select Committee on Indian Affairs together with testimony submitted by 
the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians on this subject be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                          Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians,

                                  Philadelphia, MS, July 12, 1991.
     Hon. Daniel K. Inouye,
     Chairman, Select Committee on Indian Affairs, U.S. Senate, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Inouye: We very much appreciate your giving us 
     the time needed to comment on S. 362, the MOWA Band of 
     Choctaw Indian Recognition Act. As you know, I had a prior 
     commitment on the day of the Committee's hearing on S. 362; 
     and I thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide the 
     Committee my position in writing.
       Attached is a study on the MOWA question which was carried 
     out by an anthropologist on our staff. It demonstrates to me 
     that without a doubt the members of the MOWA community had 
     some Choctaw ancestors in the remote past. (Of the 30 first-
     generation Indian ancestors listed in the MOWA documentation, 
     only 16 are identified as Choctaws, and of these, only one, 
     Alexander Breashears, appeared on the Armstrong Roll of 1831, 
     the listing of all Choctaw households east of the Mississippi 
     compiled prior to the Removal to the Indian Territory.) But 
     descendency to some fractional degree by some people does not 
     make them an Indian tribe. There are areas of culture and 
     political relationships that more closely define a tribe, 
     areas reflected to some extent in the current Bureau of 
     Indian Affairs federal acknowledgement process and in your, 
     Senator McCain's, and Senator Cochran's effort to 
     legislatively mandate such a process, S. 1315.
       It has only been within the last ten to 20 years that the 
     Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians has been aware there were 
     people in Washington and Mobile counties, Alabama, claiming 
     Choctaw descent. Some members of that community have visited 
     the reservation here in Mississippi to study tribal customs; 
     and some tribal members here have been paid by the MOWAs to 
     come over to teach that community Choctaw dances and the 
     Choctaw language (although currently we know of no one there 
     that does speak the language.) Our people could discern no 
     Choctaw customs extant among the MOWA population at the time 
     of our first contacts with them; and insofar as we are aware, 
     the only traditional Choctaw customs now practiced in the 
     MOWA community have resulted from instruction by members of 
     the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. These activities 
     were carried out by individual members of the Mississippi 
     Band of Choctaw Indians, and did not constitution any form of 
     recognition by the tribal government of the Mississippi Band 
     of Choctaw Indians.
       In their attempt to obtain legislative recognition, the 
     members of the MOWA community make three arguments that are 
     either factually incorrect or historically inaccurate, and 
     which I would like to address. First, they repeatedly invoke 
     the provisions of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek of 1830. 
     The only parts of what is now Alabama affected by the Treaty 
     of Dancing Rabbit Creek were portions of Sumter, Greene, 
     Pickens, and Choctaw counties. Washington and Mobile 
     counties, the home of the MOWA community, had been previously 
     ceded under the Treaty of Hoe Buckintoopa (1803), and the 
     treaty with the British of 1765.
       Secondly, the MOWA community maintains that because it 
     receives federal funding from the Administration for Native 
     Americans, the Office of Indian Education Programs of the 
     U.S. Department of Education, and HUD, the federal government 
     already recognizes the community. The receipt of these funds 
     because of the community's status as state-recognized has 
     nothing to do with the question of the community's federal 
     recognition, which is a totally separate issue.
       Finally, the members of the MOWA community are arguing that 
     a failure of the Congress to act positively on this bill 
     would be an abandonment of the Congressional power to handle 
     ``commerce with the Indian tribes'' as provided for in the 
     United States Constitution. We believe, to the contrary, that 
     the Constitution provides for a government to government 
     relationship only with those Indian tribes that are federally 
     recognized, and that such recognition (as with foreign 
     nations and the State Department) should for the most part be 
     a function of the executive branch, and not of the Congress.
       The Congress saw fit in the 1930's to limit services (and 
     thus tribal membership) to Mississippi Choctaws to persons of 
     one-half or greater degree demonstrable Mississippi Choctaw 
     blood quantum. For the Congress to approve legislation that 
     would now offer these same services to Alabama ``Choctaws'' 
     of conceivably minuscule blood quanta would seem to us 
     patently unfair. While we have no argument with groups 
     asserting their rights under the Federal Acknowledgement 
     Process of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, when specific 
     legislation is introduced, we as Choctaws do have the right 
     to be concerned about the name ``Choctaw'' being 
     misrepresented and the historical record being distorted.
       It appears to me that if the Congress took the initiative 
     to legislatively recognize tribes outside of land claims 
     cases, it would open the door for many, many other groups in 
     the Southeast to submit bills, based on tenuous historical 
     claims--a precedent the Congress would not want to have to 
     concern itself with on a regular basis which could result in 
     making a mockery of the historic government to government 
     relationship that the Congress has maintained with bona fide 
     tribes throughout the country.
       The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians respectfully urges 
     the members of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs to 
     table S. 362 and to encourage the MOWA community to pursue 
     the established process for recognition through the 
     Department of the Interior.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Phillip Martin,
                                                            Chief.

                  Comments on the MOWA Band of Choctaw

     (By Kenneth H. Carleton, M.A., Choctaw Tribal Anthropologist/
          Ethnohistorian; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians


                              Introduction

       The ``MOWA'' are a group of people who live in northern 
     Mobile county and southern Washington county, Alabama, in an 
     area roughly bounded by the towns of Citronelle, Mt. Vernon, 
     McIntosh and Tibbie. They have been known as the Alabama 
     ``Cajans'' since that name was applied to them in the 1880s. 
     Although they have never liked this name, it is a useful term 
     to distinguish them. These people are the descendants of many 
     of the early settlers in this area and are a unique mixture 
     of both genetic and cultural heritages.
       Over the past century, an enormous amount of material has 
     been written about the ``Cajans'' by numerous people. There 
     have been several articles in scholarly journals and church 
     publications and at least three Masters theses which discuss 
     the social, cultural and genetic backgrounds of these people. 
     From the late 1920s onward, there are published accounts of 
     them about every ten to twenty years. Therefore, the 
     documentary background available on their social and cultural 
     practices in really rather good, which is unusual for a group 
     like this.


                   Historical Background of the Area

       The initial European settlement of the Mobile Bay area took 
     place in 1702 when the French under Iberville founded Fort 
     Louis de la Louisiane north of modern-day Mobile. At this 
     time, or within a few years, several small Indian tribes were 
     living along the Mobile and Tombigbee Rivers north of Mobile. 
     These tribes included the Mobile, the Tohome, the Appalachee 
     and the Teansa, among others.


                               The Mobile

       The Mobile Indians were living on the Mobile River 
     approximately five miles below the confluence of the Alabama 
     and Tombigbee rivers at the time of initial contact with the 
     French and Spanish. By ca. 1730, they had moved to the mouth 
     of the Mobile River where they stayed until 1763 when they 
     disappear from the documentary record.


                               The Tohome

       The Tohome were also present in the Mobile area at initial 
     contact. There were apparently two groups (village ?) of them 
     which were known as the Big Tohomes and the Little Tohomes or 
     Naniabas. They continued to live there at least until they 
     too disappear from the documentary record in the early 1770s.


                             The Appalachee

       The Appalachee where initially contacted by De Soto in 
     central Florida and were missionized by the Spanish in the 
     early seventeenth century. They lived primarily around the 
     mission of San Luis, which was located in present-day 
     Tallahassee. During the winter of 1703/04, an English-led 
     raid from Charlestown, South Carolina (modern Charleston), 
     destroyed San Luis and killed or captured as slave over 
     1,000 of the Appalachee. The survivors of this disaster 
     fled to the Pensacola area. By the end of 1705 they had 
     come to Mobile, where the settled under the protection of 
     the French. In 1763 with the end of the French and Indian 
     War, France was forced out of North America and England 
     was granted all of France's territories east of the 
     Mississippi. At this time the Appalachee in Mobile were 
     jointed by other groups of Appalachee. In 1764, the newly 
     reunited Appalachee, the Taensa, and the Pakana bank of 
     Creeks all removed themselves to the Red River in 
     Louisiana, in order to avoid English dominion.


                               The Taenas

       At initial contact with the French, the Taensa were living 
     on the Mississippi River. However, at the encouragement of 
     the French by ca. 1715 they had moved all of their people to 
     the Mobile area. They remained there until 1764, when they 
     went to the Red River with the Appalachee.
       These groups where not the only Indian presence in the 
     Mobile area. Throughout the eighteenth century, particularly 
     during the French Period (1702-1763), there was a constant 
     flow of Indians, including Choctaw, Chickasaw, and various 
     Creek groups, who came to Mobile to trade, receive presents 
     and discuss important matters with the Europeans there. 
     However, by the last two decades of the eighteenth century, 
     there were no organized groups of Indians living in the area 
     around Mobile.
       The English took control of Mobile and its environs after 
     1763. They controlled the area until the American Revolution. 
     In 1765, the British held the Congress of Mobile with the 
     Choctaw Nation. At this Congress the Choctaw agreed to cede 
     all territory south of the 31 deg. Parallel, between the 
     Tombigbee River and the Mississippi River and the Natchez 
     District to the British.
       In 1780, the Spanish took advantage of the conflict between 
     the British and their former colonists and systematically 
     invaded every non-Spanish port along the Gulf of Mexico. In 
     March of 1780, a force of Spanish soldiers, a large number of 
     which were Negroes and mulattos from South America and 
     probably the Caribbean, took Mobile. By the middle of 1781 
     the entire Gulf Coast, from Florida to Louisiana, was under 
     Spanish dominion. In 1783, at the end of the American 
     Revolution, the British ceded all their territory south of 
     Canada to the United States with the southern boundary along 
     the Gulf Coast being set at the 31 deg. Parallel.
       During the next decade, especially when operating under the 
     Articles of Confederation, the United States were not in a 
     position to enforce this southern boundary with the Spanish. 
     The Spanish encroached beyond this line in several places 
     including the Mobile area, where they had a fort at St. 
     Stephens, almost forty miles north of the 31 deg. Parallel. 
     Finally in 1795, the now stronger United States was able to 
     force the Treaty of San Lorenzo which held the Spanish to the 
     31 deg. Parallel. In this same year, the Mississippi 
     Territory was formed with the 31 deg. Parallel as its 
     southern border and Natchez as its capital. It is at this 
     time that a number of significant treaties with the 
     Choctaw pertinent to this area began to be signed.


                    treaty of hoe buckintoopa, 1803

       On August 31, 1803, the Treaty of Hoe Buckintoopa was 
     signed. This treaty ceded all Choctaw claims to the area 
     bounded by the Chickasawhay River, on the west; Buckatunna 
     Creek, Red Creek and Santa Bogue Creek on the north; and the 
     Tombigbee River, on the east and the 31 deg. Parallel on the 
     south. This area covers the eastern extremes of present-day 
     Wayne and Greene counties, Mississippi, and the northern 
     extreme of present-day Mobile County and all except the 
     extreme northern portion of present-day Washington County, 
     Alabama.


                      treaty of mount dexter, 1805

       On November 16, 1805, the Treaty of Mount Dexter was 
     signed. This treaty ceded Choctaw territory across the 
     southern portion of Mississippi and into Alabama, which 
     included the southern portion of present-day Choctaw County, 
     Alabama, and the remaining portion of present-day Washington 
     County, to the Tombigbee River.


                      treaty of st. stephens, 1816

       On October 24, 1816, the Treaty of St. Stephens was signed. 
     This treaty ceded all Choctaw lands east of the Tombigbee 
     River, from the Chickasaw/Choctaw boundary to the northern 
     limit of the area ceded by the Treaty of Mt. Dexter.
       In 1817 Mississippi was admitted to the Union as a state. 
     Alabama followed in 1819, thus ending the Mississippi 
     Territory. This set the stage for the coming of the ancestors 
     of the group known as the Alabama ``Cajans'' to the area 
     north of Mobile.


                         the alabama ``cajans''

       The very name ``Cajan'', which was first applied to them in 
     the 1880s, demonstrates that from a very early period these 
     people have been recognized as a distinct group. They are 
     what anthropologists and sociologist call an ``isolate''. 
     That is, a subcultural group which due to some form of 
     isolation has developed its own society and culture 
     independent of the mainstream society which surrounds it. 
     Numerous examples of such isolates are known and include such 
     groups as the Polynesians of Hawaii or Tahiti, isolated by 
     thousands of miles of open ocean; or Appalachia in the 
     mountains of Tennessee, Kentucky and several other states, 
     where the eighteenth and nineteenth century settlers from 
     primarily the British Isles became isolated by the rugged 
     terrain which surrounded them and resulted in a society which 
     more closely resembled that of early nineteenth century 
     Britain than twentieth century North America with elements 
     that are uniquely their own thrown in; on some of the barrier 
     islands along the coast of Virginia, the language that is 
     spoken is not that of modern American English but 
     more closely resembles that of Elizabethan English which 
     the original settlers of these island spoke.
       The ``Cajans'' of Alabama were not isolated from the 
     mainstream society by great physical barriers. There are no 
     enormous mountains which surround them or miles of ocean 
     which separate them from their neighbors. Their isolation was 
     a social isolation. These people are the descendants of a 
     mixed genetic and social heritage. Many of the ancestors of 
     this group were white, but many were also ``mulattos'' of 
     mixed black and white or Indian backgrounds and many were 
     part Indian and part white. They were not accepted by the 
     mainstream white society and they refused to participate in 
     the black society.
       The mixed nature of their cultural and genetic heritage is 
     very diverse. They are the descendants of American Indians 
     (they themselves claim Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, 
     Houma and even Apache), French, English, Spanish, Mexican, 
     German, Russian and African sources from the Southeast and 
     the Caribbean. This has resulted in a blending of the genetic 
     and cultural heritages from all of these sources. They are 
     not black, white or Indian but an unique mix of all three.


                            social isolation

       Because of the mixed heritages of this group and the 
     relatively remote area in which they lived, the members of 
     this community became isolated from the mainstream society at 
     a very early time. They were already recognized as a separate 
     community, with their own cultural and social structure by 
     the 1880s. This implies that almost from the beginning, they 
     kept to themselves and only minimally interacted with the 
     outside world.
       This isolation was probably caused by several factors. 
     First was their mixed genetic heritage. Although many of them 
     appeared to be white, as attested to by the censuses in which 
     they are listed as such, many more of them could not. They 
     did not appear to be black, but they definitely were not 
     white, which resulted in them being shunned by most white 
     society. They, on the other hand, refused to be considered 
     black, since they considered that insulting. So, the only 
     option which they had was to stay away from the white society 
     which did not accept them as part of it and to remain apart 
     from the black society in which they refused to interact.


                            family histories

       The historical antecedents of the Alabama ``Cajans'' are 
     numerous and varied. Some of their ancestors were French 
     colonial settlers or the children of French settlers. These 
     include Juzans and the Chestangs families, both of who were 
     well established in the area north of Mobile by the 1770s.
       Some of the ancestors of this group were newer immigrants. 
     The best known of these, and one of the most prominent early 
     ancestors of the Alabama ``Cajans'' is Daniel Reed. Reed is 
     listed as a freed Negro in Toulmin's digest of Alabama Laws, 
     and since Toulmin probably knew Reed, this should be 
     accurate. According to family legend, Reed came from San 
     Domingo and was a mulatto of mixed African and either French 
     or Spanish parentage. It is not known exactly when Daniel 
     Reed came to this area, but by 1818 he had established 
     himself well enough to have purchased a mulatto slave 
     named Rose--presumably from Young Gaines, Perry County, 
     MS--whom he married. In 1818 Reed was able to get an Act 
     of the Alabama Territorial Legislature to emancipate Rose. 
     Two years later, Reed got a second Act from the 
     legislature to emancipate two of his, and presumably 
     Rose's children. In all of these acts, Daniel Reed is 
     listed as a ``free man of color'' and Rose and the 
     children are referred to as ``mulatto''. In 1828, Daniel 
     Reed purchased his son George from Young Gaines. The names 
     of all of Daniel and Rose Reed's children are recorded at 
     his death in 1844. They are: Julia Ann, Eliza, George, 
     Matilda Ann, William, Reuben, Lucretia and Emaline. All 
     are attested to being free persons of color, being the 
     children of free persons of color, by the local county 
     court judge at the time of Daniel Reed's death.
       Of this second generation, four of the Reeds' daughters all 
     married the following white men: Peter Cole, Willis Daugherty 
     (married Emeline), John Harris, and Nedham Bryant Married 
     Matilda); Lucretia never married and the sons, George, 
     William and Reuben, married Ellen, Lovinda, and Emeline 
     Weaver, in that order. The Weavers are one of the other 
     founding families of the Alabama ``Cajans'' and these 
     daughters are purported to have been half Cherokee from their 
     father. Based on the 1870 Census data in Green, 1941, these 
     marriages took place in the late 1840s and early 1850s.
       It should be noted here that Rose Reed is claimed by her 
     descendants to have been half Choctaw. However, there is no 
     documentary evidence to prove this statement while there is a 
     great deal of evidence to prove that she was a Negro slave. 
     In one major court case (Barbara Young, et al, vs Board of 
     School Commissioners of Mobile County, Alabama, 1930) the 
     judge, while sounding sympathetic to their case, because of 
     the evidence presented and the laws of Alabama was forced to 
     rule that Rose was indeed Negro and that there was nothing 
     but hearsay evidence to support the claim of Choctaw 
     heritage.
       It is unnecessary here to go into a detailed discussion of 
     the histories of all of the other families which were the 
     founders of the Alabama ``Cajans''; although inadequately 
     documented, they are presented in detail in Matte, et al, n. 
     d., However it is necessary to make several observations. The 
     three most common surnames among this group are Reed, Weaver 
     and Byrd. The Reed line has already been discussed. The 
     Weaver line purportedly trace its origins back to Dave 
     Weaver, who was a Cherokee and listed as living at Sharp Mt., 
     Georgia, on the 1835 Cherokee Roll. The Byrd line traces its 
     beginnings to Lemuel Byrd, purported to be a mixed-blood 
     Cherokee, also from Georgia, who moved into the Mobile area 
     after service in the War of 1812.
       All of these families, and many others, intermarried 
     extensively beginning in the 1820's and 1830. Among them were 
     probably many half- or part-blood Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, 
     and Cherokee. However, the documentary evidence for these 
     blood lines is ambiguous or non-existent. The majority of 
     their claims are based solely on family reminiscences. The 
     fact of the matter is that most families in Mississippi 
     and Alabama which came to these areas as early as those of 
     the Alabama ``Cajans'' probably do have at least some 
     Indian blood. However, there is a great deal more to being 
     an Indian than simply having the genetic heritage. There 
     are cultural and social aspects of ``Indianness'' which 
     more than anything else make Indians what they are.


           social and cultural aspects of alabama `'cajans''

       Because so much was written about them in the 1930s we have 
     a good sample of the social aspects and culture of the 
     ``Cajans'' at a period before there was extensive influence 
     on them from the outside. It should be pointed out that at 
     the time the various authors were listing the ``Cajans'' in 
     the '30s, these people led a life of abject poverty. There 
     were virtually no roads in the areas in which they lived and 
     travel was primarily by foot or horseback; virtually no 
     electricity was available and there was no running water. The 
     houses they lived in were shacks which are described by many 
     of the authors as being even more decrepit and dilapidated 
     than the local blacks' houses. There was little furniture or 
     other household goods in many of the homes. Some of them had 
     access to kerosene lamps but the majority of households were 
     still using fat-pine torches as their main source of 
     illumination after dark. At this time only a few houses had 
     radios or phonographs and the majority of people had never 
     even been to Mobile, just a few minutes automobile ride away. 
     The overwhelming majority of them were illiterate. They were 
     not only isolated from the society of their neighbors, they 
     were cut off from virtually all influence from the outside 
     world.
       This situation began to change in the 1930s as several 
     church mission efforts began by establishing schools and 
     churches in the area. The young people began to be educated. 
     After World War II, the outside world began to have more 
     influence within the local area and with the passage of the 
     Civil Rights Act and the abolition of segregation the 
     situation has radically changed.
       Therefore, at the time that some of the earliest 
     information about these people is available, they had changed 
     very little from their forebears in the nineteenth century. 
     This gives us an opportunity to see what the social and 
     cultural situation of these people was before it had been 
     extensively influence or disrupted by the popular American 
     culture of the time.
       The picture which we get of this group is one of 
     nineteenth-century, southern, lower-economic, white culture. 
     It resembles the culture of the Appalachian areas on more 
     than a superficial level. The primary social organization is 
     based on extended-family kinship groups. And in a society as 
     closed and intermarried as this one, everyone was related to 
     everyone else in some way. The basic unit of socio-political 
     power among these people is the ``settlement'' which is a 
     community of people living together around institutions such 
     as churches and schools and a general store, if the community 
     was large enough. Settlements can be further subdivided into 
     ``neighborhoods'' which represent different extended-family 
     lines (clans) within the settlement. The residency pattern is 
     patrilocal; when a couple from different settlements gets 
     married they live in the settlement of the husband's 
     family. Each neighborhood has a head who is selected 
     informally and the selection is primarily based on his 
     qualifications as a religious leader. It is also primarily 
     an achieved status (rather than inherited) with the person 
     who is best qualified to act as leader getting the 
     position, although the leadership also tends to run in 
     families. The leaders of each neighborhood informally 
     select one of their number to act as the head of the 
     settlement. This position is usually held by the man 
     having the most seniority. Generally speaking, any man 
     from any family can be the leader of a settlement. 
     However, in Mobile County members of the Reed family have 
     been excluded in the past because of their commonly known 
     descent from a Negro slave. The settlement and 
     neighborhood heads are the authorities in each community. 
     They arbitrate disputes, give advice, resolve problems 
     with the schools and churches and lead the religious life 
     of the neighborhoods.


                              Family Life

       The father was the absolute ruler of his household. His 
     wife and children, until of legal age, were expected to obey 
     him without question. Most women were expected to ask their 
     husbands permission before doing something as simple as 
     visiting a neighbor. The girls were expected to learn 
     household duties at an early age and usually began helping 
     their mothers with daily tasks by age six or so. The girls 
     were strictly disciplined and were expected to obey all 
     instruction given by not only their mothers and fathers but 
     their elder brothers as well. On the other hand, boys were 
     not very strictly disciplined and were given great liberty. 
     Few parents would force a young boy to eat foods he disliked 
     or to attend school and, while they might have been told not 
     to, it was common for boys of eight or ten to smoke, drink 
     and gamble with adults. Most girls were married by the time 
     they were fifteen or sixteen and had had several children by 
     the time they were twenty. Boys usually did not marry until 
     they were twenty-one.
       One interesting custom peculiar to this group was that of 
     naming patterns. Although the habit initially sounds 
     extremely unusual, when it is considered that there are only 
     a few surnames among these people the pattern makes sense. 
     When a child was born he/she was given a proper name. The 
     child was then called by their first name and by one of their 
     parents or grandparents names. Thus, Joseph whose father was 
     named Edward, would be called ``Joe Ed''. The same pattern 
     occurred at marriage when the wife took on her husband's 
     name. Martha who married Bob would be called ``Martha Bob''.


                             Burial Customs

       Upon the event of a death, all mirrors in the room in which 
     the body was to be laid out were covered and all clocks were 
     stopped at the time of death. The head of the corpse was 
     bound with a cloth, tied on top of the head or beneath the 
     chin and pennies were placed on the eyes. The body was placed 
     on a ``cooling board'' and the water in which the body was 
     washed was often placed under the board in the belief that 
     it would aid in preservation. All doors in the room in 
     which the body was laid out were left open to allow the 
     spirit of the body to depart unimpeded. A ``wake'' was 
     held the day after the person's death. People began 
     gathering at the home where the body was laid out early in 
     the morning. The children would play in the yard and the 
     adults would gather inside or on the porch of the house. 
     Food and hot coffee were served throughout the day by the 
     female relatives of the deceased. Throughout the day more 
     people would come and about sunset hymns would be sung. 
     Around midnight the crowd would begin to depart and 
     representatives of the family would sit with the body 
     throughout the night. The next day the burial service 
     would take place at the church and the person would be 
     buried in the graveyard. At the end of the service, each 
     person present would pass by the open grave and throw a 
     handful of dirt on top of the coffin.
       Initially, the idea of a wake for the dead did sound like 
     the Choctaw custom of having a wake. However, when all of the 
     activities involved in the preparation of the body and the 
     wake were examined, not a single element of this event was 
     found to be Choctaw. The wake of the Alabama ``Cajans'' is 
     probably the result of the many Irish and other Europeans 
     which settled in the area in the early nineteenth-century.
       Many superstitions and cures were encountered among the 
     Alabama ``Cajans''. Virtually all of them are either common 
     in the Southeast today, or are of European origins.


                        summary and conclusions

       Despite the fairly substantial body of written material 
     available about the Alabama ``Cajans'' and their society and 
     culture and despite the evidence that there are indeed 
     numerous Indian ancestors of this group, their culture in the 
     twentieth century is almost completely derived from that of 
     Europeans. There are only a couple of things mentioned that 
     sound even remotely Indian or Indian-derived and most of 
     these when examined closely are probably not Indian.
       A couple of the superstitions and folk cures might be 
     derived from the general belief systems of the Southeastern 
     Indians. However, they are so far removed from any actual 
     superstitions practiced by Southeastern Indians that it is 
     impossible at this point to say how they evolved. There is 
     some evidence that some herbal medicine may have survived 
     into the present. However, there are only a couple of slight 
     references to these practices in any of the available 
     material and the evidence is not sufficient to form an 
     opinion.
       In conclusion, the ``MOWA'' are a portion of the group 
     known for the past century as the Alabama ``Cajans''. This 
     group is a tri-racial isolate who are the descendants of 
     American Indians, including Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek and 
     Apache; African slaves and freemen; and Europeans, including 
     French, English, Spanish, Germans and Russians. Due to their 
     mixed genetic and cultural heritage they were isolated at an 
     early time by pressures from without and within from the 
     surrounding cultures. They have developed a unique and 
     extremely interesting society and culture which blends many 
     of the elements from all of their diverse background. 
     However, they are not an Indian tribe; the are not the 
     remnant of an Indian tribe; they are not Choctaw.


comments on some of the testimony presented by the ``mowa'' to support 
                        their claims as choctaw

       In the ``MOWA's'' testimony to the Senate Select Committee 
     on Indian Affairs and in their Application for Recognition 
     presented to the Bureau of Indian Affairs there have been 
     numerous historical errors and misstatements. Most of these 
     have been minor and have been pointed out by other sources. 
     However, several gross errors were presented in the testimony 
     presented before the Senate Select Committee on Indian 
     Affairs on June 26, 1991, which can not be ignored or go 
     uncorrected. One of the errors which needs to be corrected 
     involves the location of the Six-Towns District (the Okla 
     Hannali) of the Choctaw Nation and that of Yowani village. 
     Another of the errors is the presumption that the area in 
     which the ``MOWA'' live was covered under the Treaty of 
     Dancing Rabbit Creek. Lastly is the assumption that all 
     documents relative to the Choctaw automatically apply to the 
     ``MOWA''.
       First, numerous times in the testimony of June 26, the 
     statement is made that Yowani village and the Six Towns 
     District were in Alabama (Tab 4, part 3, page 1; Tab 5, part 
     1, page 1; Tab 5, part 2, pages 5-6; Tab 7, page 1; as well 
     as many other references to the Six Towns and Yowani which 
     imply but do not say they were in Alabama). This is totally 
     inaccurate. The Six Towns--Yellow Canes, Bouctoulouctsi, 
     Tala, Nachououenya, Senacha and Toussana--where located along 
     Souinlovey Creek and Tarlow Creek, both on the west side of 
     the Chunky River, in northern Jasper and southern Newton 
     counties, Mississippi. Yowani Village, which was not part of 
     the Six Towns, was located on the Chikasawhay River, in the 
     extreme northern portion of Wayne County, Mississippi.
       Second are the repeated references to the Treaty of Dancing 
     Rabbit Creek and its provisions for private reservations or 
     land grants to Choctaw who did not wish to be removed west. 
     The area in which the ``MOWA'' now live and in which their 
     ancestors have lived for close to the last two hundred years 
     was not covered by Dancing Rabbit Creek. That area was ceded 
     by the Choctaw to the United States under the Treaty of Hoe 
     Buckintoopa in 1803, 27 years before Dancing Rabbit Creek. 
     The area covered under Dancing Rabbit Creek is over 40 miles 
     from the most northern portion of the area occupied by the 
     ``MOWA'', yet they seem to be attempting to make some 
     argument that they are owed something under this treaty.
       Lastly, throughout all of the testimony and statements made 
     there is a basic underlying assumption that these people are 
     Chocktaw and that this matter does not need to be proven. And 
     therefore, all documents and records which deal with the 
     Choctaw automatically apply to the ``MOWA''. As has been 
     shown in the foregoing discussion, the Alabama ``Cajans'' are 
     not a Chocktaw band or even a remnant thereof. Therefore, 
     none of the documents cited which deal with the Choctaw are 
     relevant.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill is before the Senate and open to 
amendment. If there be no amendment to be proposed, the question is on 
the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, was read 
the third time, and passed as follows:

                                 S. 282

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,


                              short title

       Section 1. This Act may be cited as the ``Mowa Band of 
     Choctaw Indians Recognition Act.''


                          federal recognition

       Sec. 2. Federal recognition is hereby extended to the Mowa 
     Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama. All Federal laws of 
     general application to Indians and Indian tribes shall apply 
     with respect to the Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama.


                         restoration of rights

       Sec. 3. (a) All rights and privileges of the Mowa Band of 
     Choctaw Indians which may have been abrogated or diminished 
     before the date of enactment of this Act by reason of any 
     provision of Federal law that terminated Federal recognition 
     of the Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama are hereby 
     restored and such Federal law shall no longer apply with 
     respect to the Band or the members of the Band.
       (b) Under the treaties entered into by the ancestors of the 
     Mowa Band of Choctaws, all historical tribal lands were ceded 
     to the United States. Congress does hereby approve and ratify 
     such cession effective as of the date of the said cession and 
     said cession shall be regarded as an extinguishment of all 
     interest of the Mowa Band of Choctaws, if any, in said lands 
     as of the date of the cession. By virtue of the approval and 
     ratification of the cession of said lands, all claims against 
     the United States, any State or subdivision thereof, or any 
     other person or entity, by the Mowa Band of Choctaws, 
     including but not limited to, claims for trespass damages or 
     claims for use and occupancy, arising subsequent to the 
     cession and that are based upon any interest in or right 
     involving such land, shall be regarded as extinguished as of 
     the date of the cession.
       (c) The Mowa Band of Choctaws has no historical land claim 
     and cannot, and shall not utilize its Federal recognition as 
     provided by this Act to assert any historical land claim. As 
     used herein, ``historical land claim'' means a claim to land 
     based upon a contention that the Mowa Band of Choctaws, or 
     its ancestors, were the native inhabitants of such land or 
     based upon the Mowa Band of Choctaws' status as native 
     Americans or based upon the Mowa Band of Choctaws' Federal 
     recognition as provided by this Act.
       (d) Except as otherwise specifically provided in section 4 
     or any other provision of this Act, nothing in this Act may 
     be construed as altering or affecting--
       (1) any rights or obligations with respect to property,
       (2) any rights or obligations under any contract, or
       (3) any obligation to pay a tax levied before the date of 
     enactment of this Act.


                                 lands

       Sec. 4. (a) All legal rights, title, and interests in lands 
     that are held by the Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama 
     on the date of enactment of this Act are hereby transferred 
     to the United States in trust for the use and benefit of the 
     Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama.
       (b)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Mowa 
     Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama shall transfer to the 
     Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of the Interior 
     shall accept on behalf of the United States, any interest in 
     lands acquired by such Band after the date of enactment of 
     this Act. Such lands shall be held by the United States in 
     trust for the Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama.
       (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
     Attorney General of the United States shall approve any deed 
     or other instrument used to make a conveyance under paragraph 
     (1).
       (c) Any lands held in trust by the United States for the 
     benefit of the Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama by 
     reason of this section shall constitute the reservation of 
     such Band.
       (d) The Congress finds that the provisions of this section 
     are enacted at the request of the Mowa Band of Choctaw 
     Indians of Alabama and are in the best interests of such 
     Band.


                                services

       Sec. 5. The Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama, and 
     the members of such Band, shall be eligible for all services 
     and benefits that are provided by the Federal Government to 
     Indians because of their status as federally recognized 
     Indians and, notwithstanding any other provision of law, such 
     services and benefits shall be provided after the date of 
     enactment of this Act to the Band, and to the members of the 
     Band, without regard to the existence of a reservation for 
     the Band or the location of the residence of any member of 
     the Band on or near any Indian reservation.


                        constitution and bylaws

       Sec. 6. (a) The Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama may 
     organize for its common welfare and adopt a constitution and 
     bylaws in accordance with regulations prescribed by the 
     Secretary of the Interior. The Secretary of the Interior 
     shall offer to assist the Band in drafting a constitution and 
     bylaws for the Band.
       (b) Any constitution, bylaws, or amendments to the 
     constitution or bylaws that are adopted by the Mowa Band of 
     Choctaw Indians of Alabama shall take effect only after such 
     constitution, bylaws, or amendments are filed with the 
     Secretary of the Interior.


                               membership

       Sec. 7. (a) Until a constitution for the Mowa Band of 
     Choctaw Indians of Alabama is adopted, the membership of the 
     Band shall consist of every individual who--
       (1) is named in the tribal membership roll that is in 
     effect on the date of enactment of this Act, or
       (2) is a descendant of any individual described in 
     paragraph (1).
       (b) After the adoption of a constitution by the Mowa Band 
     of Choctaw Indians of Alabama, the membership of the Band 
     shall be determined in accordance with the terms of such 
     constitution or any bylaws adopted under such constitution.


                              regulations

       Sec. 8. The Secretary of the Interior shall prescribe such 
     regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of 
     this Act.

  Mr. FORD. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the 
bill was passed.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

                          ____________________